by Recently, I sat listening to a young brother preach the gospel. He read from the scriptures describing the sufferings of Jesus, and spoke affectingly about them. Something occured to me as I listened to that preaching of the word of God, and that account of scourging, spitting, mockery, hatred, and rejection: the world has never stopped treating my Saviour this way. What we read of in the gospels about Jesus’ treatment at the hands of men is not a historical account of events long past – it is what is happening today.
Today – in the world’s media, in churches, in private conversations – another Jesus is being preached. In the words of the apostle, “another Jesus, whom we have not preached” (2 Corinthians 11:3) has taken the place of the suffering One. Paul was afraid for the Corinthians, that if they were presented with this account of a false Jesus, “ye might well bear with it.” The world has certainly borne with this deception, as has a large part of the professing Church. I needn’t and couldn’t describe the myriad forms this deception takes – and besides, the best way to spot a forgery is to study the genuine article.
Let us not be decieved, readers, by the world’s apparent acceptance of Jesus. We mustn’t doubt for a moment that it still hates Him with the same implacable hatred that came into evidence at Gethesame, at Gabbatha, and Golgotha. Present the true Jesus to the world – Christ crucified – and you will not fail to get a reaction. Mr J.N. Darby once wrote that he did not believe that atheism was possible to man’s mind, even though men might reason as atheists – and so unbelievers may profess not to believe in God, and even deny that there ever was a man called Jesus, but the works of the Creator God testify against them, making their unbelief inexcusable. The indifferent world preaches neutrality – each to his own – but beneath the surface the same deep emnity to God which was displayed at the cross is ever present in a world which is in Satan’s thrall.
So, brethren, let us always remember that “friendship with the world is enmity with God” (James 4:4). The world has its attractions and enticements – one to appeal to every temperament and persausion – but beneath that pretty facade is the same Christ-rejecting system of wickedness. It is a severe test to me. I feel, perhaps more than anyone, the pull of the world’s novelties and entertainments, “the king’s delicate food” (Daniel 1:8). I have proved, however, in my limited measure, what it is to “Taste and see that Jehovah is good” (Psalm 34:8). We, as believers, have the great and inestimable privilege of turning away from the Christ-rejecting world and its pollutions and feeding on Him instead. May we do so, increasingly, as the time of His return draws near.